Some time a go I noticed that the MLR (Mitsubishi Lancer Register) were organising an event/trackday to Spa with trips to the NBR! So without a hesitation I booked and began the long and costly preparations for my car and its journey of a life time.
Joining me was a mate in his skyline and together we’d be convoying down to spa for a few action packed days.
As journeys go, this was going to be a bit of a killer. With an early meeting at Lymm services, we then made our way down to Dover port to catch our ferry to France via numerous fuel stops (of which were going to become more frequent as the journey went on) Going down the motorway, it was absolutely pissing it down and not at one point when travelling did my wipers stop being used!
The overall journey was rather uneventful and apart from seeing the odd lambo there wasn’t really much to keep myself occupied apart from various cd’s, watching out for speed cameras and fuel stops!
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y170/quikky007/NurburgringSpa/DSCF0001.jpg
After quite a few hours and a numb bum, we finally reached Dover, a sight that was met with some relief as I’d not broken down!
The ferry crossing was again pretty uneventful and time was taken to chill out, grab some food and the necessary EU regulation light deflectors and GB badge!
France:
Getting in to France, guess what? – yep it was raining! So on with the show and more motorway driving.
As we were only in France for about 20mins, there wasn’t really anything exciting about going through it apart from a few funny looks from French drivers as we rumbled past!
Belgium:
Yes it was bloody raining there too! We motored on into the heart of Belgium and had to endure some treacherous conditions with spray and heavy rain. One thing that the Belgium road engineers don’t seem to take into consideration is water evacuation. The standing water and spray was just phenomenal and visibility was down to around 10mts or so at certain times.
Anyway, the hours past and we neared Spa and our hotel. However and this was a big however it was well after 1am and the place was locked and the lights were out. Luckily we had the phone number and decided to wake them up to explain that two very tired English blokes were stood outside! So after some well spoken French (if I do say so myself) we got our key and went to bed but not before a few well earned beers!
Germany:
Next day, we came outside to a sea of skylines and M3 CSL’s parked outside, by the time we got going most of them had already set off to the same place we were going. The Nurburgring!
Time wise it was going to take us about an hour and a half to get there and of course what was it doing, yep – it was bloody raining!
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y170/quikky007/NurburgringSpa/DSCF0002.jpg
Now at this point you’re going down the motorway cursing and yelling out loud that you hate motorways, shouting at your car for its ferociously hard suspension and the continuous blarrrring of your exhaust drumming into your ears hour after hour! But all this no longer mattered when signs for the Nurburgring started to pop up. To actually get to the Nurburgring was dead easy, however working out where the hell the entrance was situated posed a little tricky and after visiting a Shell garage for more fuel and talking to the Mazda MX-5 owners club we found the entrance.
To see the place and all the visual landmarks you view via the net and on tv (Topgear) it was very surreal rolling in there and just seeing it yourself. At that point it was very rewarding in itself! (well it was for me) and most of all I hadn’t broken down!
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y170/quikky007/NurburgringSpa/DSCF0003.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y170/quikky007/NurburgringSpa/DSCF0004.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y170/quikky007/NurburgringSpa/DSCF0010.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y170/quikky007/NurburgringSpa/DSCF0012.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y170/quikky007/NurburgringSpa/DSCF0014.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y170/quikky007/NurburgringSpa/DSCF0018.jpg
After parking up we went to buy some “tracktime” toll tickets. At €64.00 (£43.00) it’s not cheap by any means, but hey it’s not often you get to blast round a world famous track as this.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y170/quikky007/NurburgringSpa/DSCF0017.jpg
Once I had my ticket there was no waiting around, straight into my car and belted up ready to attack the ring. Coming up to the gates and inserted my ticket. “ping” and the barrier went up. With a feeling of nervousness and excitement I followed through the cones and I was then free out on to the track.
Now I’ve played GT4 on the PS2 and to be playing the game 2 days ago and then be on the same track was a little weird, but with the rain pouring down I began to attack the track for all about 3 corners until I realised that it was a death trap and I almost sliding off the track! So a cautious but enthusiastic run around the ring was in order for my 1st lap in an attempt to gather my bearings and learn what I could.
I must say that it is a great place to be. Comparing it to GT4, apart from the actual layout of the track the corners are much deeper and some of the gradients and hills in the game are very tame to what you are up against in real life. On some of the corners I was amazed how much the game falsified the cambers and hills. From what was a nice light cambered corner was actually quite banked and the uphill climb was much more steeper but there again it’s a game and I was here in real life!
Anyway, after one successful lap of the ring I came back in to make some suspension adjustments and check all was ok. In between that I saw my girlfriend Sabine Schmitt – oh yeah, she’s fit in real life too, but I was too slow to get a picture of her as I was drooling too much!
Lap 2 & 3 were much better and quicker that the 1st (obviously) but the track had somewhat dried out better and spray was next to nothing and my grip had improved.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y170/quikky007/NurburgringSpa/DSCF0006.jpg
One point on the track round my 3rd lap (which I will never forget) was when I was going about 80-90mph and thinking to myself, “yeah I’m doing ok here” until I looked left and was staring at the bonnet/front lights of a Vauxhall Senator that drifted past me at well over 100mph, flashed his brake lights, flicked the other way and carried on drifting round the next corner!!! – what a guy!
Massive respect for him, it looked like he spent far too much time there!!!
While I was there I ended up talking to a guy from America that was there for the day, who had rented a brand new Audi A4 diesel just to go round the track! He even took me out in it too as long as I took loads of pictures of him driving like a mental case! “Not really bothered” he joked as the Audi’s stabilizing system was working overtime to stop us from crashing “its only a rental” So with that he just went banana’s and tried his best to get the car to spin off, understeer, oversteer the lot and the car just handled it so well. Not to mention a handful of “god dayums” that went with it!
Afterwards we had a little talk and then I went out for my last run.
Nothing too exciting, but I certainly gave it some “beans” once the tyres had warmed up, but just as I was flying and coming to the end of my lap, there had been a crash (one of many that I saw that day). An RX8 had left the track and almost cleared the barriers! Nothing too serious and the driver was ok, more pride than anything else!
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y170/quikky007/NurburgringSpa/DSCF0008.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y170/quikky007/NurburgringSpa/DSCF0007.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y170/quikky007/NurburgringSpa/DSCF0009.jpg
After that I had a chat with my American friend and then decided to head home, not without another fuel trip.
On the way back to the hotel, guess what? Yep it rained - AGAIN!
Not only that we also encountered a UK reg’d evo on the way. With smiles and friendly hand waves (yes no V’s - it was all good fun) we all decided to head home “quicker”. So instead of an hour and a half, it took about 30-40 min's to get home! Not without another stop off at a Shell garage in between!
Back at the hotel we were greeted with more Skylines and M3’s. One scrub up later and we were out into town for some food in a local restaurant, beers and some sexy waitress – yummy. Afterwards got our heads down for the big day!
Joining me was a mate in his skyline and together we’d be convoying down to spa for a few action packed days.
As journeys go, this was going to be a bit of a killer. With an early meeting at Lymm services, we then made our way down to Dover port to catch our ferry to France via numerous fuel stops (of which were going to become more frequent as the journey went on) Going down the motorway, it was absolutely pissing it down and not at one point when travelling did my wipers stop being used!
The overall journey was rather uneventful and apart from seeing the odd lambo there wasn’t really much to keep myself occupied apart from various cd’s, watching out for speed cameras and fuel stops!
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y170/quikky007/NurburgringSpa/DSCF0001.jpg
After quite a few hours and a numb bum, we finally reached Dover, a sight that was met with some relief as I’d not broken down!
The ferry crossing was again pretty uneventful and time was taken to chill out, grab some food and the necessary EU regulation light deflectors and GB badge!
France:
Getting in to France, guess what? – yep it was raining! So on with the show and more motorway driving.
As we were only in France for about 20mins, there wasn’t really anything exciting about going through it apart from a few funny looks from French drivers as we rumbled past!
Belgium:
Yes it was bloody raining there too! We motored on into the heart of Belgium and had to endure some treacherous conditions with spray and heavy rain. One thing that the Belgium road engineers don’t seem to take into consideration is water evacuation. The standing water and spray was just phenomenal and visibility was down to around 10mts or so at certain times.
Anyway, the hours past and we neared Spa and our hotel. However and this was a big however it was well after 1am and the place was locked and the lights were out. Luckily we had the phone number and decided to wake them up to explain that two very tired English blokes were stood outside! So after some well spoken French (if I do say so myself) we got our key and went to bed but not before a few well earned beers!
Germany:
Next day, we came outside to a sea of skylines and M3 CSL’s parked outside, by the time we got going most of them had already set off to the same place we were going. The Nurburgring!
Time wise it was going to take us about an hour and a half to get there and of course what was it doing, yep – it was bloody raining!
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y170/quikky007/NurburgringSpa/DSCF0002.jpg
Now at this point you’re going down the motorway cursing and yelling out loud that you hate motorways, shouting at your car for its ferociously hard suspension and the continuous blarrrring of your exhaust drumming into your ears hour after hour! But all this no longer mattered when signs for the Nurburgring started to pop up. To actually get to the Nurburgring was dead easy, however working out where the hell the entrance was situated posed a little tricky and after visiting a Shell garage for more fuel and talking to the Mazda MX-5 owners club we found the entrance.
To see the place and all the visual landmarks you view via the net and on tv (Topgear) it was very surreal rolling in there and just seeing it yourself. At that point it was very rewarding in itself! (well it was for me) and most of all I hadn’t broken down!
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y170/quikky007/NurburgringSpa/DSCF0003.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y170/quikky007/NurburgringSpa/DSCF0004.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y170/quikky007/NurburgringSpa/DSCF0010.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y170/quikky007/NurburgringSpa/DSCF0012.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y170/quikky007/NurburgringSpa/DSCF0014.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y170/quikky007/NurburgringSpa/DSCF0018.jpg
After parking up we went to buy some “tracktime” toll tickets. At €64.00 (£43.00) it’s not cheap by any means, but hey it’s not often you get to blast round a world famous track as this.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y170/quikky007/NurburgringSpa/DSCF0017.jpg
Once I had my ticket there was no waiting around, straight into my car and belted up ready to attack the ring. Coming up to the gates and inserted my ticket. “ping” and the barrier went up. With a feeling of nervousness and excitement I followed through the cones and I was then free out on to the track.
Now I’ve played GT4 on the PS2 and to be playing the game 2 days ago and then be on the same track was a little weird, but with the rain pouring down I began to attack the track for all about 3 corners until I realised that it was a death trap and I almost sliding off the track! So a cautious but enthusiastic run around the ring was in order for my 1st lap in an attempt to gather my bearings and learn what I could.
I must say that it is a great place to be. Comparing it to GT4, apart from the actual layout of the track the corners are much deeper and some of the gradients and hills in the game are very tame to what you are up against in real life. On some of the corners I was amazed how much the game falsified the cambers and hills. From what was a nice light cambered corner was actually quite banked and the uphill climb was much more steeper but there again it’s a game and I was here in real life!
Anyway, after one successful lap of the ring I came back in to make some suspension adjustments and check all was ok. In between that I saw my girlfriend Sabine Schmitt – oh yeah, she’s fit in real life too, but I was too slow to get a picture of her as I was drooling too much!
Lap 2 & 3 were much better and quicker that the 1st (obviously) but the track had somewhat dried out better and spray was next to nothing and my grip had improved.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y170/quikky007/NurburgringSpa/DSCF0006.jpg
One point on the track round my 3rd lap (which I will never forget) was when I was going about 80-90mph and thinking to myself, “yeah I’m doing ok here” until I looked left and was staring at the bonnet/front lights of a Vauxhall Senator that drifted past me at well over 100mph, flashed his brake lights, flicked the other way and carried on drifting round the next corner!!! – what a guy!
Massive respect for him, it looked like he spent far too much time there!!!
While I was there I ended up talking to a guy from America that was there for the day, who had rented a brand new Audi A4 diesel just to go round the track! He even took me out in it too as long as I took loads of pictures of him driving like a mental case! “Not really bothered” he joked as the Audi’s stabilizing system was working overtime to stop us from crashing “its only a rental” So with that he just went banana’s and tried his best to get the car to spin off, understeer, oversteer the lot and the car just handled it so well. Not to mention a handful of “god dayums” that went with it!
Afterwards we had a little talk and then I went out for my last run.
Nothing too exciting, but I certainly gave it some “beans” once the tyres had warmed up, but just as I was flying and coming to the end of my lap, there had been a crash (one of many that I saw that day). An RX8 had left the track and almost cleared the barriers! Nothing too serious and the driver was ok, more pride than anything else!
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y170/quikky007/NurburgringSpa/DSCF0008.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y170/quikky007/NurburgringSpa/DSCF0007.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y170/quikky007/NurburgringSpa/DSCF0009.jpg
After that I had a chat with my American friend and then decided to head home, not without another fuel trip.
On the way back to the hotel, guess what? Yep it rained - AGAIN!
Not only that we also encountered a UK reg’d evo on the way. With smiles and friendly hand waves (yes no V’s - it was all good fun) we all decided to head home “quicker”. So instead of an hour and a half, it took about 30-40 min's to get home! Not without another stop off at a Shell garage in between!
Back at the hotel we were greeted with more Skylines and M3’s. One scrub up later and we were out into town for some food in a local restaurant, beers and some sexy waitress – yummy. Afterwards got our heads down for the big day!
